C.What led the church to accept certain writings was their knowledge that it came
from an apostle.

1.Since the churches were spread, some letters took longer to be recognized
than others.

2.The group initially receiving the letter was quick to recognize the source.
Others gaining copies of the original had to check the source carefully.

D.If we understand and accept that books entered the canon because an apostle was
associated with the writing of the book, then we have the answer for most of our
books.

1.Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew.

2.John wrote John, I John, II John, III John and Revelation.

3.Paul wrote thirteen letters: Romans, I Corinthians, II Corinthians,
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I Thessalonians and II
Thessalonians are all letters to various churches in different cities or
regions. I Timothy, II Timothy, and Titus are personal letters to two
preachers who often worked with Paul. Philemon is a personal letter to
member of the church and friend of Paul concerning a run away slave.

E.Papias (about AD 130, but probably earlier). He was alive when John was still
alive.

1.“Matthew composed the oracles in Hebrew, and each one interpreted them
as he was able.”

a.This quote can be translated as in the Hebrew dialect or style of
writing.

2.“This also the Elder [John] used to say. Mark, having become Peter’s
interpreter, wrote accurately all that he remembered, though he did not
[record] in order that which was either said or done by Christ. For he
neither heard the Lord nor followed Him; but subsequently, as I said,
[attached himself to] Peter, who used to frame his teaching to meet the
[immediate] wants [of his hearers], and not as making a connected
narrative of the Lord’s discourses. So Mark committed no error as he
wrote down some particulars just as he recalled them to mind. For he took
heed to one thing – to omit none of the facts that he heard and to set
nothing falsely in [his narrative of] them.”

F.Justin Martyr (within 50 years of the apostle John’s death)

1.Justin after quoting Luke’s account of the Lord’s Supper said, “the
apostles in the memoirs composed by them which are called Gospels, have
thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them.”

2.“The mention of the fact that Christ changed the name of Peter, in his
[Peter’s] memoirs, together with his having changed the name of two other
brethren who were sons of Zebedee to Boanerges, tended to signify that he
was the same through whom the surname Israel was given to Jacob, and
Joshua to Hoshea.”

a.The changing of Peter’s name is only found in the Gospel of Mark
which Justin said was Peter’s memoirs.

G.Irenaeus (180 - 192 A.D.)

1.“Matthew, among the Hebrews in their own dialect, brought out also a
writing of a Gospel while Peter and Paul in Rome were preaching and
founding the Church. After their death Mark, the disciple and interpreter
of Peter, also himself committed to us inscripturated the things being
preached by Peter. And Luke, the follower of Paul, the Gospel being
preached by that one he put down in a book. Then John, the disciple of the
Lord . . . also he gave out the Gospel while staying in Ephesus of Asia.”

H.Tertullian was a heretic in the early church, but like most false teachers used the
Scriptures to bolster his position

1.“The same authority of the apostolic churches will afford evidence to the
other Gospels also, which we possess equally through their means, and
according to their usage – I mean the Gospels of John and Matthew –
whilst that which Mark had published may be affirmed to be Peter’s,
whose interpreter Mark was. For even Luke’s form of the Gospel men
usually ascribe to Paul. And it may well seem that the words which
disciples publish belong to their masters.”

2.“The evangelical Testament has apostles for its authors, to whom was
assigned by the Lord Himself this office of publishing the Gospel. Since,
however, there are apostolic men also, they are yet not alone, but appear
with apostles and after apostles; because the preaching of apostles might
be open to suspicion of affectation of glory, if there did not accompany it
the authority of the masters, which means that of Christ, for it was that
which made the apostles their masters.”

3.“The apostles would never have taught things which were self-contradictory, so the apostolic men could not have inculcated teaching
different from the apostles.”

4.“In the Lord’s apostles we possess our authority, for even they did not of
themselves choose to introduce anything, but faithfully delivered to the
nations the doctrine which they have received from Christ.”

I.Note that the phrase “apostolic men” refers to close associates of the apostles who
acted as their secretaries. They were similar to Burach’s duties to Jeremiah.

1.This is not unusual.

2.Even though Romans is from Paul, Romans 16:22 shows us that Tertius
was the scribe who wrote the words onto paper.

3.Silvanus (Silas) was Peter’s scribe for I Peter - I Peter 5:12

4.In fact from Galatians 6:11 we conclude that Paul rarely did his own
writing.

5.From these early Christians we learn that Mark took the various stories
told by Peter and placed them in a book as accurately as he could. Peter
did not dictate the book directly from start to finish, instead he related
stories as his audience had need. Mark collected the stories and put them
together, but it appears that he did not complete the task before Peter’s
death. However, the book was accepted because all Christians recognized
that it was the accurate record of Peter’s stories.

6.In a similar manner, Luke’s writing were accepted because of his close
association with Paul.

J.If you look at early Christian writings, the debates over the acceptance of a book
revolved around whether an Apostle truly wrote the book.

IV.The Hard Books

A.The Book of Jude is quoted some in early Christian writing. But it has always
been firmly received, when mentioned, as being Scripture.

1.“Early church works appear to echo its content (compare Didache 2:7 and
Jude 22, and greetings within Polcarp's Epistle to the Philippians [108
A.D.] and the Martyrdom of Polycarp are similar to that of Jude). ...
Clement of Alexandria (lived circa 150-211/216 A.D.) refers to Jude in his
Paedagogus ("Instructor", 3:8), Stromata ("Miscellanies"), and
Hypotyposes (a multi-volume commentary on books of Scripture).
Likewise, Tertullian (lived circa 155-222 A.D.), in northern Africa,
showed Carthage's familiarity with Jude.” [Brent MacDonald, The New
Testament books of James and Jude,, 2008].

2.“The Epistle of Jude, indeed, and two belonging to the above-named John
– or bearing the name of John – are reckoned among the Catholic
epistles.” [Canon Muratorianus, about AD 175]

3.The author is named (Jude 1), but there were multiple Judes in the New
Testament

a.Judas Iscariot

b.Judas, also known as Thaddaeus, who was brother to (son of?)
James the son of Alphaeus - Matthew 10:3, Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13.

c.Jude, the brother of James, who are half-brothers to Jesus -
Matthew 13:55

4.A few early Christian writers refer to the work as being authored by Jude
the Apostle. Judas Iscariot died too soon.

a.In the Jude, the son of Joseph, camp:

(1)“Jude, who wrote the Catholic Epistle, the brother of the
sons of Joseph, and very religious, whilst knowing the near
relationship of the Lord, yet did not say that he himself was
His brother. But what said he? "Jude, a servant of Jesus
Christ," -of Him as Lord; but "the brother of James." For
this is true; he was His brother, (the son) of Joseph.
[Comments on the Epistle of Jude, Fragments of Clemens
Alexandrinus (who lived circa 160-215/220 A.D.)].

(2)“Then of the New Testament there are the four Gospels
only, for the rest have false titles and are mischievous. The
Manichaeans also wrote a Gospel according to Thomas,
which being tinctured with the fragrance of the evangelic
title corrupts the souls of the simple sort. Receive also the
Acts of the Twelve Apostles; and in addition to these the
seven Catholic Epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude;
and as a seal upon them all, and the last work of the
disciples, the fourteen Epistles of Paul. But let all the rest
be put aside in a secondary rank.” [Cyril of Jerusalem,
about AD 313-386].

b.Also noted is that Jude 17-18 could be read that the author isn’t
among the apostles. But notice it says “they said to you” and not
“they said to us.” This would place Jude among the apostles.

c.In the Judas, the son of Alphaeus camp:

(1)“We have now to notice, agreeably to the statements of
Scripture, how the opposing powers, or the devil himself,
contends with the human race, inciting and instigating men
to sin. And in the first place, in the book of Genesis, the
serpent is described as having seduced Eve; regarding
whom, in the work entitled The Ascension of Moses (a
little treatise, of which the Apostle Jude makes mention in
his Epistle), the archangel Michael, when disputing with
the devil regarding the body of Moses, says that the serpent,
being inspired by the devil, was the cause of Adam and
Eve's transgression” [Origen 3.2.1, about AD 185-254].

(2)Tertullian (about AD 155-222), argued for the acceptance
of the Book of Enoch based on it being apparently quoted
by Jude. “To these considerations is added the fact that
Enoch possesses a testimony in the Apostle Jude.”
[Tertullian: On the apparel of women, Book 1, Chapter 3].

5.Given the importance of apostleship to the early Christians, it makes sense
that we are referring to Jude, the brother of James, the sons of Alphaeus.
But it could also be that the Lord’s brother, Jude, was a prophet.

6.Note that Jude calls himself a bond-servant, a phrase favored by the
Apostles though not limited to them - Romans 1:1, II Peter 1:1, Revelation
1:1.

B.The book of James causes the same problem

1.“A number of writing early church fathers where aware of the book and
quote from it in their works. Two of the earliest, in the generation
following the apostles, were Clement of Rome (in his first letter to the
Corinthians which references James 2:21, 23) and the author of The
Shepherd of Hermas (which references James 4:7). Origen, approximately
a century later (lived circa 185-254 A.D.), expressly mentions the book in
his commentary on John [1.19], and Irenaeus makes reference to a verse
from it as well (James 2:23 in Haer. 4.16.2).” [Brent MacDonald, The
New Testament books of James and Jude,, 2008].

2.Again James calls himself a bond-servant, which inclines us to an apostle
as the author.

3.Yet there are multiple James in the Bible:

a.There is James, the brother of John, the sons of Zebedee.

b.There is James, the brother of Jude, the sons of Alphaeus.

c.There is a James who was half-brother to Jesus.

4.James, the son of Zebedee, was killed in Acts 12:2. When he is
mentioned, he is always called either the brother of John or the son of
Zebedee. This is because there were two James.

5.James the son of Alphaeus is always called as such up until James the son
of Zebedee’s death. Afterwards, he is just called James.

6.It looks like the best candidate is James the son of Alphaeus and the
brother of Jude.

7.There is a possibility that it was James, the Lord’s brother, but again it
would be based on James being a prophet..

C.This leaves us with Hebrews

1.It has been quoted even by very early Christian writers as Scripture.

2.The author is not directly named, though hints appear in the book.

a.Hebrews 2:3-4 indicates the author was not a direct witness to
Jesus’ words on earth. (i.e. the author was not one of the original
12 apostles).

b.Hebrews 13:23-24 says it was written from Italy by an associate of
Timothy.

c.Hebrews 10:34, 13:19 indicates the author is in prison and hopes to
visit soon.

d.The writer is strongly knowledgeable of the Hebrew religion.

3.Origen

a.“If I gave my opinion, I should say that the thoughts are those of
the apostle, but the diction and phraseology are those of someone
who remembered the apostolic teachings, and wrote down at his
leisure what had been said by his teacher. Therefore if any church
holds that this Epistle is by Paul, let it be commended for this. For
not without reason have the ancients handed it down as Paul’s. But
who wrote the Epistle, in truth, God knows.”

4.Pantaenus (third-hand quote)

a.“And as the blessed presbyter[Pantaenus] used to say, since the
Lord, as being the apostle of the Almighty, was sent to the
Hebrews, Paul through his modesty, inasmuch as he was sent to the
Gentiles, does not inscribe himself apostle of the Hebrews, both on
account of the honor due to the Lord, and because it was a work of
supererogation that he addressed an Epistle to the Hebrews also,
since he was herald and apostle of the Gentiles.”

5.Clement is quoted saying that the Epistle to the Hebrews is Paul’s,

a.“And in the Hypotyposes, in a brief summary, he has made
abbreviated narratives of all canonical Scripture; and has not
passed over the disputed books, - I mean Jude and the rest of the
Catholic Epistles and Barnabas, and the so-called Revelation
(Apocalypse) of Peter. And he says that the Epistle to the Hebrews
is Paul's, and was written to the Hebrews in the Hebrew language;
but that Luke, having carefully translated it, gave it to the Greeks,
and hence the same coloring in the expression is discoverable in
this Epistle and the Acts; and that the name "Paul an Apostle" was
very properly not pre-fixed, for, he says, that writing to the
Hebrews, who were prejudiced against him and suspected, he with
great wisdom did not repel them in the beginning by putting down
his name” [Eusebius: Ecclesiastical History, 6.14.1, AD 325].

b.This would explain Origen’s misgivings about the differences in
phrasing and word choices from Paul’s other works.

c.One author noted that the word choice in Hebrews does match well
with Luke and Acts.

6.Tertullian states that Barnabas was the scribe who wrote the words of Paul
down. In fact Tertullian quotes Hebrews 6:4-8 but calls it the Epistle of
Barnabas though he says it contained the words of Paul.

7.While the author remains uncertain, it is significant that the only candidate
ever offered for the writer of Hebrews is Paul.

V.When we reach the end, we find that every book of the New Testament is either written
by an apostle or by someone closely associated with an apostle who were known to be a
prophet. Even the books were we are not certain of the identity of the author today, still
can be associated with an apostle.

A.The early church accepted writings because of the author. The words had to have
originated from an apostle.

B.As with the Old Testament, the books in our Bible were not set by some council
or historian sitting in judgement of God’s Word.

C.Rather, the church accepted writings from the Apostles and later historians
recognized what was already known by all Christians.

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